A special friend visit - Kum Koon

The last meal of this series had to be somewhat special. My friend and I had discussed at length what type of food we wanted to chow on during this trip, and it was decided to try the most authentic Chinese restaurant in town. Asking around the residents from Manitoba, Kum Koon was named continually. I had blogged previously about their dim sum, but today we came for supper.

Most great Chinese meals start with a soup. We had the Hot and Sour Soup as it is, typically, a good representation of the quality of the restaurant. Starchy, sweet and sour, this soup was teeming with tofu, meats and black ear fungus. Great start!

Another special Chinese dish are deep fried crab claws. Typically restaurants take a claw and stuff it with meats and vegetables and fries it crisp. Kum Koon's version was HUGE, these were by far the largest and ingredient-filled version I have ever had.

Inside the crispy skin was a wondrous concoction of crab meat and shrimp. However, because of the significant size of these wonders, the subtle flavor of crab was overshadowed by the sheer amount of shrimp.

Hainanese Chicken is another popular Chinese dish. It consists of a chicken cooked in a broth at sub-boiling temperatures so that the meat cooks slowly for maximal tenderness and a gelatinous layer is formed between the meat and skin. The version here is served warm but otherwise had all the important textures and flavors of the dish. Delicious.

Perhaps we felt a little self conscious ordering all this meat and starch with no vegetables, we ordered a Eight Flavour Braised Duck. The eight flavour represents the eight different types of ingredients gone into the dish. The duck was exquisitely tender and the sauce went exceedingly well with a side of plain rice.

Silken Tofu was complimentary at the end of the meal. Nice palate cleanser to finish off an excellent meal and an exciting trip. I feel blessed to be surrounded by so many great friends and family who take the time and energy out of their busy schedules to visit me. To my special friend who came to Winnipeg: you are always welcome here and I cannot await our next adventure!